Deformable Illumination Module

ABSTRACT

Deformable illumination module with a plurality of circuit boards that have at least one optical emitter arranged thereon and that are connected into forming a chain by way of two electrical power supply wires. The electrical power supply wires run without interruption across all circuit boards of the chain creating a parallel connection of the circuit boards.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is the National Stage of International Application No.PCT/DE2005/000143, filed on Jan. 31, 2005, which claims the priority toGerman Patent Application Serial No. 10 2004004777.4, filed on Jan. 30,2004. The contents of both applications is hereby incorporated byreference in their entireties.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a deformable illumination module with aplurality of circuit boards that have at least one optical emitterarranged thereon, respectively, and that are connected to form a chainvia electrical power supply wires. The invention relates in particularto illumination modules for back-lighting light-permeable materials suchas e.g. acryl in luminous letters.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Known illumination modules of this kind, such as e.g. the Tetra® LEDsystem by GELCore or the LED hose by Hansen-neon, do not allow forchanging the distances from one light-emitting diode component part toanother light-emitting diode component part; they are therefore notscalable in terms of their luminance and, depending on the radiationcharacteristics with regard to a luminance that is as homogenous aspossible, only usable for a very limited magnitude range of luminousletters. Moreover, the maximum length of these illumination modules isvery limited.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is the object of the present invention to provide an illuminationmodule of the kind as set forth in the introduction that allows for easyvarying of the luminance whereby longer chains are possible than todate.

A plurality of circuit boards is provided for an illumination moduleaccording to the invention, and arranged on the circuit boards isrespectively at least one optical emitter, in particular alight-emitting diode component part, and the circuit boards areconnected via two massive electrical power supply wires into a chain.The electrical power supply wires run without interruption across allcircuit boards of the chain. The circuit boards of the chain areconnected in parallel with regard to each other by way of these powersupply wires.

Covered by the term “without interruption” are all configurations thathave the power supply wires severed on the circuit board but that arecontinually electrically connected on the circuit board withoutconsiderable reduction of the cross-section.

Aside from the at least one optical emitter, it is possible to arrangeon each circuit board additionally at least one further electroniccomponent that is electrically connected to the optical emitter.

A preferred embodiment provides that for the purpose of reinforcing theconnection between two respective circuit boards the electrical powersupply wires are connected into a bundle between the circuit boards, forexample by crimping.

In a special embodiment the circuit boards are grouped into a pluralityof circuit board pairs and the optical emitters of each circuit boardpair are connected by way of a connecting wire between the two circuitboards.

Light-emitting diode component parts are particularly preferred opticalemitters.

The power supply wires between respectively two circuit boards runpreferably in a meanderlike fashion. This allows, on the one hand, forvarying the distance between two circuit boards and, on the other hand,the bending radius of the chain can be changed easily.

It is particularly preferred for the circuit boards to be tapered in thedirection of their ends that are pointing toward each other and for thepower supply wires to run together, starting from a widened middle part,along the edges of the circuit boards. The circuit boards are preferablyconfigured in rhomboidal fashion or in the fashion of a flat-pressedhexagon or octagon having their long axes arranged along the maindirection of extension of the chain.

Usable as circuit boards are both printed circuit boards (PCB's) as wellas metallic lead frames that have the optical emitters and, if need be,the associated electronic component parts arranged thereon. In addition,it is possible to manufacture circuit boards by means of MID technology,including e.g. hot pressing.

A special advantage of the illumination module according to theinvention lies in the fact that, without having to change production, itcan easily be adjusted for special customer wishes. The meandering formof the power supply cable bundle between the circuit boards allows forextensive variations of the distance between the circuit boards andthereby also for variation of the length of one and the sameillumination module.

An illumination module according to the invention can advantageously bemanufactured easily via a reel-to-reel process whereby power supplylines that are available in “infinite” form are stripped at certainintervals, and the circuit boards are contact connected at theselocations to the otherwise continuous power supply lines and joined tothe latter.

In a particularly preferred embodiment the power supply lines run onlyon the front side of the circuit boards which is also where the opticalemitters are located. The circuit boards can then advantageously featurea flat back side thereby allowing, for example, for the technicallysimple and direct fastening by way of a screw through a hole that isprovided for this purpose or by way of double-sided adhesive tape.

Further advantages, improvements and advantageous embodiments becomeclear based on the exemplary embodiment that is explained in conjunctionwith the figure.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The figure shows a schematic depiction of a top view of the embodiment.

The figure is, as a matter of principle, not to be understood as true toscale. Also, individual component parts are, as a matter of principle,not depicted as representing their actual size-specific dimensionsrelative to each other.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The exemplary embodiment features a plurality of circuit boards 1.Arranged on said circuit boards 1 are two light-emitting diode componentparts 2, respectively, as optical emitters which are connected by way oftwo electrical power supply wires 3, 4 into a chain. The electricalpower supply wires 3, 4 are guided across all circuit boards 1 withoutinterruption creating a parallel connection of the circuit boards 1 ofthe chain.

Aside from the light-emitting diode component parts 2, the circuitboards 1 have arranged on them further electronic component parts 5,respectively, that are electrically connected to the light-emittingdiode components 2.

Electrical power supply wires 3, 4 are combined into bundles,respectively, and crimped to reinforce the connection between tworespective circuit boards 1. In the alternative, it is also possible touse a ribbon cable that is unpicked in the area of the circuit boards.

In an embodiment in which the light-emitting diode component parts oftwo circuit boards that are adjacent to each other, respectively, areconnected with one another, with the connection being achieved by way ofa further connecting wire between the two circuit boards.

The power supply wires 3, 4 between two given circuit boards 1 run in ameanderlike fashion.

In the direction of the extension of the chain, circuit boards 1 havethe shape of an elongated octagon, and the power supply wires 3, 4 runtogether along the edges of the circuit boards, starting at the widenedmiddle part. In particular, they do not have back-side contacts whichmeans that, during the installation of an illumination module, it is notnecessary to take special steps to prevent, for example, a shortcircuit.

The circuit boards have e.g. a flat back side whereby, for example,direct fastening by way of a screw through a hole provided for thatpurpose or by way of double-sided adhesive tape is possible.

The illumination module can advantageously be manufactured by way of areel-to-reel process whereby power supply lines that are available in“infinite” form are stripped at certain intervals. At these strippedlocations circuit boards 1 are contact connected to the otherwisecontinuous power supply lines and joined to the latter.

The illumination module can optionally have secondary optics forbeam-forming, for example in the form of detachably (e.g. via aplug-and-socket device or a clamping connection) or non-detachably (e.g.using glue) fastened collecting or diverging lenses and/or diffractiveoptics (not shown in the figures). This allows for adjusting theluminance and/or the homogeneity of the luminance of the illuminationmodule by changing the radiation characteristics of the light-emittingdiode components 2.

The description of the invention by way of the embodiment shallnaturally not be seen as a limitation of the invention to thisembodiment alone. The characteristics of the invention that aredisclosed in the present description, in the drawing and in the claimscan have essential significance either individually or in anycombination for the implementation of the invention.

1. Deformable illumination module with a plurality of circuit boardsthat have at least one optical emitter arranged thereon, respectively,and that are connected into a chain by way of two electrical powersupply wires wherein the electrical power supply wires are configured torun without interruption across all circuit boards of the chain therebycreating a parallel connection of the circuit boards of the chain. 2.Illumination module as claimed in claim 1 wherein at least one furtherelectronic component is arranged on a circuit board, in addition to theat least one optical emitter, and electrically connected to the opticalemitter.
 3. Illumination module as claimed in claim 1 wherein theelectrical power supply wires are connected to form a bundle between twocircuit boards, respectively, in order to reinforce the connectionbetween two circuit boards.
 4. Illumination module as claimed in claim 1wherein the circuit boards are grouped into a plurality of circuit boardpairs and wherein the optical emitters, respectively, of a circuit boardpair are connected by way of a connecting wire between the two circuitboards.
 5. Illumination module as claimed in claim 1 wherein the opticalemitters are light-emitting diode component parts.
 6. Illuminationmodule as claimed in claim 1 wherein the power supply wires between tworespective circuit boards run in a meanderlike fashion.
 7. Illuminationmodule as claimed in claim 1 wherein the circuit boards are tapered inthe direction of their ends that are pointed toward each other andwherein the power supply wires run together, starting from the widenedmiddle part, along the edges of the circuit boards.
 8. Illuminationmodule as claimed in claims 7 wherein the circuit boards are configuredin rhomboidal fashion or in the fashion of a flat-pressed hexagon oroctagon having their long axes arranged along the main direction ofextension of the chain.
 9. Illumination module as claimed in claim 1wherein both the bending radius between two circuit boards as well asthe distance between the two circuit boards can be varied.